Michael Heseltine

Michael Heseltine (21 March 1933-) was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 20 July 1995 to 2 May 1997, succeeding Geoffrey Howe and preceding John Prescott.

Biography
Michael Heseltine was born in Swansea, Wales in 1933, and he studied at Oxford before becoming a successful businessman and a Conservative Party MP. He served as Margaret Thatcher's Environment Secretary from 1979 to 1983, and he was associated with the redevelopment of Merseyside and the sale of public housing into private ownership. He was combative in his opposition to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament as Defense Secretary from 1983 to 1986, but walked out of the Cabinet over Thatcher's style of government during discussions about the Westland helicopter company. Heseltine was then seen as the main challenger to Thatcher, until he stood against her for the Conservative Party leadership in 1990. He successfully ousted her from power, but this made him a traitor in many Conservatives' eyes and he was unable to win against John Major in the ensuing leadership contest. Heseltine recovered from this negative image remarkably well, and became a high-profile member of Major's cabinet, eventually being elevated to the post of Deputy Prime Minister in 1995. Despite his unfailing oratorial skills, it appeared during the mid-1990s that he was losing some of his political astuteness and cunning, while a heart attack appeared to rule him out for the office he coveted so much, that of Prime Minister.